Airtel hikes call, data charges as tax on mobile fees bites
Telecommunication company Airtel has announced increase charges on voice calls, SMS and data services set to take effect from Monday at midnight.
In a statement, Airtel managing director Prasanta Das Sarma said that voice calls and data tariffs will increase by 30 cents each, while SMS tariffs by 10 cents.
The increase in tariff is due to the increase in excise duty, other taxes and rising input costs.
“In view with the recent increase in Excise duty, other taxes and rising input costs we are constrained to increase our headline voice and data tariffs by 30 cents each and our SMS tariff by 10 cents effective from midnight tonight,” the Mr Sarma said in a statement.
He added: “We have also insured that the prices of all voice and data bundles including unlimited, Tubonge and amazing data bundles remain unchanged. Additionally there will be no increase in our Airtel money tariffs.”
Last week, mobile service provider Safaricom also increased their rates for the mentioned services.